SEOUL, April 26 (Reuters) - South Korea's economy grew atits fastest quarterly pace in a year in the first three monthsof 2012 as the government ramped up spending and exportsrebounded, but the uneven global recovery is keeping the outlookfar from clear.

Asia's fourth-largest economy grew a seasonally adjusted 0.9percent in the first quarter from the previous quarter, up froma 0.3 percent gain in the final quarter of 2011 and matching themarket's consensus view, central bank data showed on Thursday.

Private consumption, government spending and capitalinvestment all posted healthy growth, turning around aftersuffering losses in the final three months of 2011, the Bank ofKorea's advance estimates showed.

Some upbeat signs seen in the global electronics industryand efforts to contain the euro zone crisis bode well forKorea's export-dependent economy, but heavy household debts willcontinue to drag on private consumption, analysts said.

However, despite the pick-up in quarterly growth, grossdomestic product increased only 2.8 percent in the January-Marchperiod from a year earlier, the slowest in 2-1/2 years, keepingthe outlook for the economy clouded.

"We cannot say for sure if the economy has passed the bottomafter seeing data for a single quarter," said Kim Young-bae,head of the central bank's statistics department.

INTEREST RATES SEEN ON HOLD THIS YEAR

"The most encouraging sign for Asia was the turnaround inthe global semiconductor book-to-bill ratio, which jumped from1.01 times in February to 1.13 in March," said Wai Ho Leong,economist at Barclays Capital in Singapore.

"It shows semiconductor manufacturers are confident enoughto invest in capital equipment and this means that we are in astage for a more lasting rise in the IT sector."

Markets showed a muted reaction to the widely expectedgrowth figures that also came as Asian shares retained positivemomentum after the U.S. Federal Reserve reassured markets thatit would keep its very accommodative stance to support growth.

Concerns about economic prospects were one reason SouthKorea's ruling conservative party lost seats in April 11elections, although it clung to a parliamentary majority.

The government has earmarked more than 40 percent of thisyear's planned budget spending for the first quarter, and 70percent for the first half of 2012, to position the economy toride an expected improvement in global growth.

Last week, the Bank of Korea trimmed its economic growthforecast for 2012 to 3.5 percent from a December forecast of 3.7percent, citing weak exports and depressed domestic demand.

Private economists have a similar view, with the medianforecast for 2012 growth at 3.4 percent in a Reuters poll thismonth, little changed from a 3.5 percent forecast in a Januarypoll.

Policymakers and analysts have warned of economic growthstaying relatively low for a long time as heavy household debtstifles consumer spending and the uneven global recovery hurtscorporate investment.

Analysts said the latest growth data and a still uncertaininflation outlook reinforced the market's view that interestrates will stay on hold at least for the remainder of the year.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD), to which South Korea is a member, also lowered its 2012growth forecast for the country in line with the market'sconsensus but presented an upbeat view for the next year.

In a report released on Thursday, the OECD even called forthe Bank of Korea to resume its monetary policy tightening driveonce the economy "overcomes the current period of uncertainty."

The Bank of Korea raised the policy interest rate by a totalof 125 basis points between July 2010 and June 2011 from arecord low of 2 percent, but has since kept it at 3.25 percenton global markets turmoil rooted in the euro zone crisis.

(Additional reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by JonathanHopfner and Ron Popeski)